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10 Isle Of Wight Gardens And Parks (2024 Guide)
Now that I've got my own garden, I rather wish I'd paid more attention when my father was trying to teach me the difference between a clematis and a chrysanthemum.
My knowledge is pretty basic, but I can still admire a colourful peony or a neatly trimmed bush (you can write your own gags for this one).
Here are 10 Isle of Wight gardens and parks worth a visit:
My knowledge is pretty basic, but I can still admire a colourful peony or a neatly trimmed bush (you can write your own gags for this one).
Here are 10 Isle of Wight gardens and parks worth a visit:
1. Mottistone Manor Gardens (free to National Trust Members)
**National Trust Offer: Free £15 National Trust Gift Card when you join (Ts & Cs apply)**
Mottistone Manor is closed to the public but the gardens are looked after by the National Trust and are open during the warmer months. The gardens and veg patches are as immaculate and well organised as a Sergeant Major's sock drawer so there's a risk you will come away feeling guilty that your lawn is covered in weeds. There's usually some sort of trail for children, which kept ours entertained for an hour.
Benedict Cumberbatch was married in the church over the road and his in-laws hosted the reception in the Manor House. Please avoid trying to peek into the kitchen whilst pretending you are looking at the plants.
There are three National Trust cottages that you can stay in on the Mottistone Manor estate. The biggest one is Mottistone Manor Farmhouse which sleeps 14 people. The smaller ones are Mottistone Rose Cottage and Longstone Cottage, which are big enough for four and six people respectively.
Benedict Cumberbatch was married in the church over the road and his in-laws hosted the reception in the Manor House. Please avoid trying to peek into the kitchen whilst pretending you are looking at the plants.
There are three National Trust cottages that you can stay in on the Mottistone Manor estate. The biggest one is Mottistone Manor Farmhouse which sleeps 14 people. The smaller ones are Mottistone Rose Cottage and Longstone Cottage, which are big enough for four and six people respectively.
Please do not steal the flowers...
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...even if they are rather abundant
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2. Ventnor Park (free)
Ventnor Park is free, so it's certainly worth a quick visit if you are passing. Besides the flowers, there are palm trees and the bandstand that once stood on Ventnor Pier. Towards the cliff at the edge of the park you'll find an outdoor gym so you can beef up and then enjoy a pleasant stroll along the cliff path whilst dreaming about how awesome you would look at a Mr Universe competition covered in baby oil.
Read our blog about Ventnor Park.
Read our blog about Ventnor Park.
Ventnor Park in, er, Ventnor
3. Rylstone Gardens, Shanklin (free)
Council-run Rylstone Gardens is one of the nicest public parks on the Island. On a summer's day you can listen to brass bands parping away whilst golf balls plop into holes at the park's minigolf course (fun fact: the minigolf course starred in a David Essex/Ringo Starr film called 'That'll Be The Day')
There's also a café. I would tell you about the different varieties of plant but I was too busy stuffing my face with lemon drizzle cake and lattes.
Read our blog about Rylstone Gardens. Big Mead is also in Shanklin, but it's a more standard green space with a playground and duck pond.
There's also a café. I would tell you about the different varieties of plant but I was too busy stuffing my face with lemon drizzle cake and lattes.
Read our blog about Rylstone Gardens. Big Mead is also in Shanklin, but it's a more standard green space with a playground and duck pond.
Setting up the deckchairs for a brass band in Rylstone Gardens
4. Ventnor Botanic Garden
You won't read an article about Ventnor Botanic Garden without the phrase 'unique microclimate'. It's the sort of place that features on Countryfile with grinning presenters hugging a palm tree and saying things like "you probably think I'm in the Mediterranean - well, you're wrong!".
The general idea is that the site is sheltered and sunny enough to be able to grow lots of plants which wouldn't survive in the rest of the UK.
It has a restaurant with a balcony. Check out the video of the woman walking through a pond with a sieve. Hopefully she didn't borrow it from the kitchen.
There's also a 350 foot tunnel which links the gardens with the coast. The website warns that you should keep away or you'll face instant death from above, but there are guided tours if you fancy it.
It costs about £5-£10 to visit. Take a look at recent reviews, which are averaging 3.5/5.
The general idea is that the site is sheltered and sunny enough to be able to grow lots of plants which wouldn't survive in the rest of the UK.
It has a restaurant with a balcony. Check out the video of the woman walking through a pond with a sieve. Hopefully she didn't borrow it from the kitchen.
There's also a 350 foot tunnel which links the gardens with the coast. The website warns that you should keep away or you'll face instant death from above, but there are guided tours if you fancy it.
It costs about £5-£10 to visit. Take a look at recent reviews, which are averaging 3.5/5.
5. Osborne House (free to English Heritage members)
Osborne House - or 'The Queen Vic' as it isn't known by locals - has suitably splendid gardens. There are trees planted by Prince Albert although I suspect he had some help and just did the easy bit at the end where you squash the soil. There's also a walled garden with fruit trees and terrace gardens.
There's a useful guide to the different seasons at Osborne on the English Heritage website, which is worth a read if your main reason for visiting is the gardens. There's a section called 'historic fruit and vegetables', which also describes the contents of my fridge when I was a student.
We wrote a short blog about some interesting historical snippets from Osborne House. You can read it if you want. Or don't, there's no pressure or anything.
See our guide to 11 things that you absolutely, definitely need to know before you visit Osborne House.
There's a useful guide to the different seasons at Osborne on the English Heritage website, which is worth a read if your main reason for visiting is the gardens. There's a section called 'historic fruit and vegetables', which also describes the contents of my fridge when I was a student.
We wrote a short blog about some interesting historical snippets from Osborne House. You can read it if you want. Or don't, there's no pressure or anything.
See our guide to 11 things that you absolutely, definitely need to know before you visit Osborne House.
The Swiss Cottage has vegetable patches for the royal children
6. Carisbrooke Castle (Princess Beatrice Gardens) (free to English Heritage members)
If you fancy a nice free walk with views over Carisbrooke and Bowcombe then you can wander round the dry moat at Carisbrooke Castle. Inside the Castle is the Princess Beatrice garden which opened in 2009. It's not huge, but it's certainly worth visiting if you are looking round the Castle anyway or if you have English Heritage membership.
An aerial nosey of the walled garden inside Carisbrooke Castle
7. Carisbrooke Priory (free)
Carisbrooke Priory's gardens are not especially la-di-da or full of exotic plants but they are free and historic. The Priory was a nunnery until the early 90s when a group of Christians (including my father) turned it into an open door which welcomes visitors of any faith, or none. There are fruit trees in the large garden, a courtyard garden and a side garden which was overgrown and hidden for several years. The gardens also house a small graveyard for the nuns who lived on site. The house is worth a nosey too.
It isn't open every day, so check the Carisbrooke Priory website first.
It isn't open every day, so check the Carisbrooke Priory website first.
I visited Carisbrooke Priory's gardens but I was nun the wiser. Ha!
8. Farringford, Freshwater
Farringford is an excellent choice for poetry types, who can recite lines from Tennyson whilst wandering around his former gardens.
The most relevant is a Tennyson poem 'To The Rev F.D. Maurice' which refers to the Isle of Wight and says:
Where, far from noise and smoke of town,
I watch the twilight falling brown
All round a careless-ordered garden
Close to the ridge of a noble down.
You pay about £4 to see the careless-ordered gardens, or you can get a bundle which includes a tour of the house as well. There's a walled garden and a woodland area which has a half mile walk.
The most relevant is a Tennyson poem 'To The Rev F.D. Maurice' which refers to the Isle of Wight and says:
Where, far from noise and smoke of town,
I watch the twilight falling brown
All round a careless-ordered garden
Close to the ridge of a noble down.
You pay about £4 to see the careless-ordered gardens, or you can get a bundle which includes a tour of the house as well. There's a walled garden and a woodland area which has a half mile walk.
If you enjoy a poetic rhyme then Farringford's gardens is worth your time
This seems a good moment to throw in a brief mention for Morton Manor. It's a privately owned 13th century manor that is closed most of the year, but occasionally takes part in open gardens events. Don't just turn up and bang on the door, it's not that sort of deal. Your best bet is to check the website of the National Open Garden Scheme.
9. Appuldurcombe House, South Wight (free)
Appuldurcombe House, nearish to Ventnor, is looked after by English Heritage, with gardens designed by 'Capability' Brown. It looks rather grand from the outside, but inside it is a ruin. I mean that in a literal sense, rather than meaning it's a bit tatty.
At the time of writing it is free to visit. We greatly enjoyed our wander round the ruins with the children.
At the time of writing it is free to visit. We greatly enjoyed our wander round the ruins with the children.
Is it me, or did 'Capability' Brown design every stately home's garden?
10. Shanklin Chine
I'm not completely sure if Shanklin Chine calls itself a 'garden' but that's probably a reasonable description. It's a classy way of walking down the hill from Shanklin's old village to the beach, past a waterfall, a tea rooms, some massive great plants and some local history. It's very nicely done and has been an attraction on the Isle of Wight for than 200 years.
It's relatively expensive if you just wander through once (about £9) but your ticket lasts for a whole week, so you can visit at the start of your week and come back more than once.
The best way to do it is to visit once in the day and then again at night time when it is illuminated.
In case you're wondering, a 'chine' is a gorge with steep sides to it with a river leading to the sea. The Isle of Wight has a lot of them (Shanklin Chine, Chilton Chine, Brook Chine, Shepherd's Chine, Whale Chine etc.)
Read about one of our visits to Shanklin Chine.
It's relatively expensive if you just wander through once (about £9) but your ticket lasts for a whole week, so you can visit at the start of your week and come back more than once.
The best way to do it is to visit once in the day and then again at night time when it is illuminated.
In case you're wondering, a 'chine' is a gorge with steep sides to it with a river leading to the sea. The Isle of Wight has a lot of them (Shanklin Chine, Chilton Chine, Brook Chine, Shepherd's Chine, Whale Chine etc.)
Read about one of our visits to Shanklin Chine.
Shanklin Chine is better value if you visit in the day and then return at night
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